Loki sat on the floor while Darcy brushed out his hair, sitting up on the sofa with her knees on either side of him. After maxing out his credit card in the nearest IKEA, he almost had a suitable beginning to his apartment, even if it was still a bit Spartan. He'd managed to get the basics, though. A bed and a few places to sit, and a television to connect to the basic cable provided by the apartment building. Darcy had put it on some channel Loki didn't care about, with the volume at least kept low.

He didn't know why Darcy liked to play with his hair, since she had more than enough of her own, but it distracted her well enough. It wasn't exactly unpleasant from his end, either. Every few minutes, his phone would announce another text message, which he'd take his time responding to. The conversation was far from urgent, and hardly even engaging until Laufey sent him a link to Reddit. She'd only posted it ten minutes before, but by the time Loki clicked the link, it had two comments already. Laufey's post about her friend finding Thor Odinson's lookalike in Las Vegas was bound to go viral. Loki doubted anyone outside of Iceland would care, but perhaps with enough steam, word would reach the right people in America.

Loki closed out of the phone's browser before Darcy had the chance to see what he was doing, and leaned his head against her knees. He could feel her braiding his hair, but she wasn't even daunted by a deliberate attempt to get her to stop. He'd just have to put up with it and wait until she wasn't looking to pull it all out before it made an even bigger mess of his hair.

"Would you stop?" he complained instead, not looking forward to whatever mess he'd find his hair in. He tried to slap her hands away and sat up again, quickly starting to untangle his hair.

"Why? What's wrong?" Darcy asked.

Loki grabbed a handful of his hair and held it up for demonstration. "It's bad enough as it is. Don't make it worse," he said. He quickly combed everything out with his fingers, wondering if he should just have it chemically straightened again. He thought it was a good look, but his hair disagreed with the process.

When Darcy reached for his hair again, he got ready to slap her hands away once more, but she only combed her fingers through it. He let her, only because his phone chimed to announce another text. Loki went to answer it, but Darcy tried to wave his hand away from his phone, probably just to be annoying.

"What is so important?" Darcy asked. "It's almost midnight. Who are you talking to?"

Loki considered spilling everything at once; just show her a Reddit thread she wouldn't be able to read. But then he wouldn't be able to properly enjoy the result. He wanted to be there for it personally. Instead, he sighed heavily.

"It's a friend from back home," he said, opening up the text conversations to show her something else she couldn't hope to read. After he gave Darcy enough time to realise that everything was being said in Icelandic, he looked at the latest text and swallowed his laughter at Laufey's response.

"There are rumours that someone knows where my brother is," he continued after a pause, trying to sound as subdued as possible.

Darcy's fingers stopped in his hair. "What, seriously? The guy you haven't seen in years? Someone knows where he is?"

Loki shrugged tiredly. "Maybe. I'm trying not to get my hopes up."

He locked his phone and tossed it aside as Darcy leaned against his back and wrapped her arms loosely around his chest. "Wow, that's. That's good though, right?" she asked.

Loki shrugged again and reached up to take her hands in his. "I don't want to talk about it," he said.

Darcy nodded against him. "Okay."

She stayed quiet for a few minutes after, even when Loki's phone chimed a few more times. From where Loki sat on the floor, it was beginning to get uncomfortable. His back was hunched awkwardly under her weight, and he'd already been stiff and tired by the time he'd sat down. He was just about to push Darcy off of him when she sat back up on her own.

"Something I've been meaning to talk to you about, though," she said, in a tone that suggested a very serious conversation Loki was never going to have.

"What?" he asked dubiously.

He turned round to look at her properly, hoping to maybe scare her off broaching whatever subject she was trying to bring up.

"I kinda promised someone tickets to the show. My ex-boss Jane, and her boyfriend. For being so awesome about me quitting without really giving notice," Darcy said.

It was not what Loki had expected at all, and for a few seconds, he'd forgotten how to respond. "Yeah, sure," he said. "You talk about them so much, I feel like I should probably meet them anyway."

He might even be able to make a public scene of it, Loki realised. Humiliate Thor in front of a crowd. It almost sounded fun.

Darcy laughed nervously. "Good. Thanks. I thought you'd say no or something."

"You mean you're not paying for them yourself?" asked Loki innocently.

Darcy gaped at him. "No, you ass. You know that's not what I meant." She laughed and swatted at him as she looked off toward the bathroom. "You know what else?" she asked.

"What?" asked Loki again, ready for a shower and bed, and for question time to be over.

"You've got that great big bath tub, and it's just begging to be used." She bit her lip and raised her eyebrows, making her point perfectly clear.

A bath was not a shower, but a bath with a naked woman in it was even better than a shower. Loki didn't even have to think about it.

"Okay," he said, already getting up.

Loki quietly got out of bed, trying not to wake Darcy as he left, but he barely had both feet on the ground when she rolled over and tried to pull him back.

"Where are you going?" she mumbled.

"I have to take care of some things," Loki told her, pulling away. "If I'm not back by one, meet me at the theatre."

Darcy scrunched up her face and grumbled. "Rehearsal doesn't start until six," she complained.

"I know. But I want you there at one." Loki pulled away from her and walked over to the closet where he'd hung all his clothes. A dresser was next on his list of useful things to have, but for now anything that couldn't be hung up still lived in his suitcase on the floor.

He dressed quickly, sparing only a moment to kiss Darcy before he left. Now that he knew where he was going, getting to the other side of the city wasn't an exercise in extreme navigation. Loki managed to tailgate someone else as they entered the complex, getting in past the gate without incident. Thor's ridiculous American truck was gone, so Loki took his spot. It didn't even matter that Thor wasn't there; Loki wasn't even necessarily there to see Thor. He just wanted to see the apartment, and was prepared to break in if he had to.

But it didn't seem like he'd have to. When he knocked on the door, one of Thor's pointless housemates answered, wearing just his boxers and a t-shirt. Loki was surprised he wasn't also holding a beer.

"Can I help you?" he asked uncertainly.

"I am looking for Don. Is he in?" Loki asked, putting on his Icelandic accent.

Boxer Shorts didn't seem convinced. "And you are?" he asked.

Loki smiled innocently. "His brother. This is the address I was given. I was supposed to meet him here. Is this the right place?"

The man guarding the door seemed even less convinced. "Yeah, uh. Time to leave, friend. I was warned about you." He leaned past Loki and looked out toward the parking lot. "And how'd you get in here? That gate's supposed to be locked."

Loki tried to edge in past him to get inside, but was quickly blocked. "No, it's fine," he said. "I'm supposed to meet him here," he said.

"Uh-huh. Time to go."

Loki considered leaving for a few moments, but thought better of it. Instead, he pulled out his phone, and before he could be stopped, he snapped a picture of the man guarding the door.

"Hey, what the hell?" he demanded.

"What is going on out there?" someone else inside shouted. As Loki put his phone away, one of the other housemates joined them at the door. Unlike the man in his underwear, the new one was actually somewhat intimidating, with the build of a retired rugby player.

He took one look at Loki before his attention was quickly diverted. "Why aren't you wearing any pants?" he demanded of his housemate.

Boxer Shorts pointed at Loki and then shrugged. "I have a girl over," he said.

"Who?"

"A...manda?" Boxer Shorts tried. Cringing, he turned and left, probably to make sure he actually knew who he had in his bed.

Loki watched him go, and even tried once more to step inside, but his way was once again blocked.

"You need to leave. Now," Thor's almost scary housemate said. It wasn't a request.

"I was-"

"Just leaving." The man grabbed Loki by both arms and turned him around before shoving him hard. Loki stumbled to recover his steps, and by the the time he turned around again, the door was already shut.

For a brief minute, he considered trying to break in anyway, but he'd have to do serious casing if he hoped to get in without finding any of Thor's horrible housemates inside. The horrible housemates who were probably already phoning the police. Loki got into his car and left quickly, not sure what to do with the rest of his morning. Not ready to go back to work or face Darcy quite yet, he pulled into the first parking lot he found and pulled his phone out again. The photo he'd snapped of Thor's housemate had been a completely suicidal impulse, but looking at it he realised what he could do with it. He scrolled through his contacts, not even sure if the number he had was still good. But even if the text went to the wrong person, it could still have an effect.

Still, he debated on it. He looked down at the screen and chewed his lip, not sure if this plan was likely to backfire and blow up in his face.

Ultimately, he decided that even if it did, he had a buffer zone of thousands of miles to keep him from the worst of it. He knew he'd only look petty and childish, but he didn't even care. He sent the picture to Sif, not even trying to be subtle about hinting that Thor had probably been hiding more from her than extreme xenophobia. He didn't expect her to respond, and didn't bother waiting around to see if she would. Tossing his phone over to the passenger seat, Loki pulled back onto the road and decided to look for breakfast before heading to the theatre.